Under oath, Rex Tillerson just claimed that Exxon did no lobbying against Iran sanctions during his time as Exxon’s president then CEO.
This despite the fact that Exxon hired lobbyists to, in a company spokesperson’s words, “[monitor] activities related to Iran in the U.S.” government — and that Exxon submitted lobbying reports specifying a focus on Iran sanctions legislation.
American Bridge President Jessica Mackler issued the following statement:
“Rex Tillerson dodged sanctions to do over $53 million-worth of business in Iran. And under Tillerson, Exxon lobbied against sanctions so it could do even more business with Iran. If Tillerson knew about the lobbying, he just perjured himself testifying before Congress.”
Background:
2015: Bloomberg Reported Exxon Hired A Lobbyist To Influence Iran Sanctions That Prevented U.S. Corporations From Doing Business With Iran. According to Bloomberg, “Exxon, the world’s largest publicly traded crude producer by market value, hired the lobbying firm founded by former Senator Don Nickles, an Oklahoma Republican, to monitor activity related to Iranian sanctions, according to federal disclosure documents. This is the first time since 2010 that the Irving, Texas-based oil company enlisted outside lobbyists to discuss Iran. Western energy companies are eager to tap Iranian fields that are among the biggest and cheapest to exploit in the world, said Morningstar Inc.’s Allen Good. Iran nationalized oil production in the 1970s. Sanctions imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and later over the country’s nuclear ambitions have kept the country largely off-limits to American firms. Iran is home to the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves and second-biggest cache of natural gas.” [Bloomberg, 5/21/15]
Published: Jan 11, 2017